Writer & Editor

Print Your Best Artwork on Your Morning Latte at This Birmingham Cafe

From intricate latte art to unexpected flavors and a unique setup, Birmingham Roast is worth a visit

By Emma Klug // Photographs By Hayden Stinebaugh

Discussing the future of a relationship over coffee isn’t too out of the ordinary — cafés are accustomed to this sort of meetup. But a marriage proposal etched in latte foam art? Well, that’s a different story.

“They loved it,” says Andy Vickers, front of house manager at Birmingham Roast, about a customer who proposed to his then girlfriend (now fiancé) with the help of a customized image in the coffee shop’s crème brûlée-infused milk ‘Kuppa Joy’ latte. “He wanted his picture — a photo of the couple — with ‘will you marry me?’ written under it, and then he slid it over to her as his way of asking.”

The specialty coffee shop, which features copper accents, quartz countertops, leather seating, and rows of glowing lights in its interior, opened in downtown Birmingham in June and has been racking up social media likes for its latte foam art, created using a Ripple Maker machine.

Vickers says Birmingham Roast is the only coffee shop in Michigan that owns the countertop device, which connects to a mobile app over Wi-Fi to process designs and images before printing them in foam. To Vickers, the machine complements the coffee shop’s drink and food lineup, including pour-over and latte options, avocado toast, panini and bagel sandwiches, vegan bakery treats, and more.

“It makes everything that we do Instagramable,” he says. “It’s a fun tool that adds that extra touch of personalization.”

The Ripple Maker, which has found popularity in New York and Los Angeles, can crank out famous quotes, selfies, an image of someone’s pet, a corporate logo, and of course, text and photos to accompany a proposal, in as little as 15 seconds.

“You give me an image, and I’m going to give you that exact image,” Vickers says. “We can get incredibly detailed.”

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